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The Dark Knight
Rises (8/10)

by Tony Medley

Run time 164
minutes.

Not for
children.

OK, I'll admit
it upfront. I never got Batman. He's not really a superhero; he can't
fly; he isn't invulnerable. So what is it about dressing up like a bat
that makes him a crime fighter?
Well, it's a comic book aimed at comic book mentality, so I guess that
doesn't make any difference. Batman was passť until director Christopher
Nolan breathed new life into the genre in 2005. This is the third of his
trilogy and it is very, very long. Even so, the music (Hans Zimmer) is
ever-present and keeps the tension high throughout.

Christian Bale
returns as the slow speaking Batman/Bruce Wayne, as do Michael Caine as
his servant, Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, and Morgan
Freeman as Lucius Fox who manages Bruce's money. New to the cast is Anne
Hathaway, who keeps getting better, here playing a jewel thief who
becomes Catwoman. She is better in this than I've ever seen her. Also
new is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who gives his usual fine performance as an
NYPD cop. Marion Cotillard rounds out the star-studded roster as a
businesswoman who catches Bruce's fancy.

There is one
snafu in the film. Set in the fictional Gotham City, it is an obvious
stand-in for New York City with its rivers and bridges. But early in the
film as a helicopter takes off in Gotham City it flies by a building
labeled "One Wilshire," which is located where Wilshire Boulevard
starts, at Grand Avenue, in downtown Los Angeles. Oh, well, there are
mistakes made in even the most expensive films.

Back to the
movie, the "plot" in these comic book things is basically the same; Bane
(Tom Hardy) is a real bad guy and he wants to annihilate Gotham City. Things don't
look too good for Batman. I actually didn't look at my watch too often
despite sitting there for 164 minutes, so this is a pretty engrossing
film.